"4 Bullets and a Ghost - Season One" by Melissa Banczak

Current Tags

cozy murder mystery, paranormal mystery, ghosts, mystery, murder, detective, crime

Categories

Mystery / Humor

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4 Bullets and a Ghost

Author's Description

"Jack you're dead." "Doesn't mean we can't talk." "I thought it did." Private Detective Finley Wade works alone. Or she did, until she started talking to ghosts. Now her mentor has decided to rejoin the firm. Three days after his death. Their first case together? Solving his murder.

Why I Chose it

I'm a sucker for a story with inconvenient ghosts. Scary spirits aren't my thing, but a ghost of someone you know who just won't go away and stay dead? Add in some humor and I'm there!

[27 episodes so far, with 4 updates in the last 30 days.]

Who Might Like This

You know you're a fan of a funny PI and the ghost of her partner!

Unrelated Griping

Lest anyone thing all the shady shenanigans are on Kindle Vella...

I'm pretty sure I've identified a money laundering scam using the ebook retailers. And friends, the fact that I can find something like that does not bode well for their scam remaining hidden for long. Let that be a lesson to you -- if you are laundering money using expensive ebooks with word salad inside, don't buy so many copies that they rise to the top of a competitive genre, or somebody will notice.

"McMann and Duck: Private Investigators" by Fred Key

Current Tags

crime, animals, detectivestory, fifties, veterans, mystery, murder

Categories

Mystery / Historical Fiction

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McMann and Duck: Private Investigators

Author's Description

It's 1951, in a small town in Texas. McMann, a new arrival and World War II veteran, and his partner, Duck, a duck, get a case for their sideline as private investigators. The owner of a trucking company has found his partner gone with the contents of the company safe. Hoping to avoid the police, he hires McMann and Duck to find the missing man. Complications ensue for the detectives, as a local gang becomes involved. Can McMann and Duck crack the case without becoming roasted themselves?

Why I Chose it

I went with this for the sheer WTF-ery of it all. Yes, it's a story about a detective agency where one partner is an actual duck. And it's played straight. No, I have no idea what is going on. So why not try it?

[18 episodes so far, with 15 updates in the last 30 days.]

Who Might Like This

I mean, surely someone must need a 1950s detective story starring a man and his duck, right? I think you should try it out just based on that.

Unrelated Griping

The search term of the day was not "duck", but maybe it should have been. Although, now that I think about it, it probably would just autocorrect to something that would lead to just as much bad erotica as "steel" and "private" did.

"Uncanny Investigations: From the Files of Mike and Shireen Chase" by Scott McFadden

Current Tags

urban fantasy, detective heroes, supernatural mystery, interracial couples, strong heroines

Categories

Paranormal / Fantasy

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Uncanny Investigations: From the Files of Mike and Shireen Chase

Author's Description

Have a poltergeist problem? Mysterious artifacts making your life miserable? Accidentally slipped into another dimension? Mike and Shireen Chase are the detectives for you. They'll solve your problem, be it natural or supernatural, and do it with style. With a knack for delving into the strange and uncanny, a healthy supply of wit and irreverence, and an irrepressible love of mysteries, Chase and Chase Investigations will take care of whatever ghoul or demon is troubling you.

Why I Chose it

I love detective fiction divided into case files. Maybe it's because I grew up with Encyclopedia Brown. Who knows? But I do love it, and this story winks at all the noir tropes, but keeps a modern sensibility about it at the same time.

[29 episodes so far, with 4 updates in the last 30 days.]

Who Might Like This

Interested in classic noir detective with a magical twist? Of course you are! Check it out!

Unrelated Griping

This gripe is more of a "me" gripe than a Vella gripe, but surely I can't be the only person creeped out by all the vampire erotica where the human girl is 18 and the vampire guy is, like, 938? Does looking young really absolve it of the pure skeeve factor?

And really, what does a 938-year-old vampire talk about with an 18-year-old? "Oh, yes, I love the Twitter. Hashtag SoBricky." I guess that's why they're all written from the viewpoint of the 18-year-old. Otherwise it would be a litany of "I'm so bored. Why are all the humans still alive so stupid? Good God, sure, I guess we can have sex again, but call me in another hundred years when you're good at it. So boring."

"Bergamot Investigations" by Jonathan Aarons

Current Tags

detective, whodunnit, thriller, compelling, hard to put down, funny, murder

Categories

Mystery / Humor

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Bergamot Investigations

Author's Description

Abraham Bergamot is a middle-aged curmudgeon who's difficult just to even be around. But his ability as a P.I. is second-to-none. So whether it's a high-end art heist, a murder at a renowned estate, or even a vandalism spree inside an elementary school, Bergamot is sure to get to the bottom of things. And maybe he'll finally give his assistant a raise. If you like your mystery with a healthy dollop of humor, Bergamot Investigations is now open for business.

Why I Chose it

I rarely see classic mystery stories these days. You know the ones -- the detective is a little quirky, he sees the one thing out of place the minute he gets to the scene, and the guilty party confesses one page later. They really only work as short stories because the quirky detective gets irritating if given too much space on the page.

This serial runs with that. Bergamot isn't necessarily someone you would want to be immersed in a 300-page book with, but he's just charming enough to enjoy in a short story. The plots are exactly what you would expect if you've read classic mystery short stories, so everything works.

[17 episodes so far, with 0 updates in the last 30 days -- even if it isn't complete (and maybe it is, I can't tell), these seem to be a series of stories told in a few episodes each, so it shouldn't leave you hanging.]

Who Might Like This

If you're a fan of classic mystery stories, especially short stories with a recurring character who sees the one clue that solves the puzzle immediately, give this one a try. 

Unrelated Griping

I went through about fifteen stories today before I found this one. I almost settled on another story an author had advertised in another group, but it only had 5 episodes and it hadn't been updated in the last month. So I kept looking. There are a lot of abandoned stories out there. Be warned.